Button feeding device for sewing machines



lnvenivm E. MELZER ET AL BUTTON FEED lNG, DEVICE FOR SEWING MACHINES Fil ed June '7, 1939 Aug.

- Patented Aug. 13,

PATENT OFFICE BUTTON FEEDING DEVICE FOR SEWING MACHINES Ernst am, Be l'lin-Lichterlelde, Herbert Siegmund, Hertord, and

'Hchtertelde, Germany Georg Kalep, Berlin- Application June '1, 1939, :Serial No. 217,959

In Germany October -30, 1937 3 Claims.

This invention concerns an automatic button fiedlng device in machines for sewing on but-' Automatic feed devices are known, which have a funnel-shaped magazine or hopper with a cy-.

lindrical tubular extension. The internal diameter of the cylindrical tube corresponds to .the diameter of the button. Below the bottom delivery opening of the cylindrical tube is disposed a guide plate. From this guide plate the buttons are introduced into a tongs arrangement and by means of this tongs arrangement they are brought below-the needles of. an automatic button sewing machine. .Now since, as follows from the law of probabilities, it may frequently occur, that the buttons which are thrown haphazard into the funnel will, in passing through the cylindrical part, reach the guide plate in an incorrect posi-- tion, the known arrangement is provided with a special turningdevice which turns the buttons which have fallen incorrectly before they are pushed .into the tongs arrangement.

According to the invention the exceedingly complicated turning arrangement which does not always function reliably is avoided by the provision in the bottom outlet plane of the cylindrical. tube of two pusher members which are capable of being moved in two diiferent radial directions. These pusher members are controlled by cam drives in such a manner that the buttons which reach the guide plate in the correct position are pushed into gripping tongs, whilst the buttons which fall incorrectly are pushed oil the guide plate. For controlling the pusher members separate feeler levers are provided.

A constructional example of the invention is illustrated in .the accompanying drawing, in which Fig. 1 shows a side view of the device diagrammatically Fig. 2 a portion of the same device with the bottom button inthe wrong position,

Fig. 3 a partial plan view of the same device,

Fig. 4 a partial side view on line A-B of Fig. 3 and Fig. 5 a portion of the ieeler lever to.a larger scale. The device consists of a feed magazine comprising an upper funnel-shaped widening 2 and a cylindrical guiding part 3. At both sides, diametrically opposite one another, there are riveted to the cylindrical wall retaining hooks l, the hook-shaped ends 5 of which are normally flush with the edge of the bottom opening or the cylindrical part 3. The hooks 4' consisting or arranged to rock about the pivot 9. Should the elastic material, when unstressed, recede sofar that the buttons which are deposited in the funnel 2 and lie piled in'the cylindrical guiding part with their main surface parallel can leave freely at the bottom, without being obstructed Y a by the hooks.

Below the outlet opening of the guiding part 3, at a small distance from it, is a stationary guide plate i", on which the buttons I falling out of the guiding cylinder 3 rest. After a button has fallen on the plate 6, the two hooks l are moved towards one another by means of two pressure applying pins 8 operated by an automatieally acting mechanism, not-shown in the drawing. At the same time the sharp ends of the hooks, whichare bent over about at a right angle, can penetrate between the more or less rounded edges of the buttons, so that there is no danger of" the hooks striking against the side of the buttons and not being able to enter between the button edges. The pile of buttons lying above the hooks, of which only three buttons are shown diagrammatically in the drawing, is thus prevented from dropping prematurely down as far as the guide plate 6.

In the y de plate 6 there is provided, concentric wi V the axisof the guiding cylinder, an I opening it, through which can pass the feeler head H of a two-armed feeler lever. Ill which is button 1 be in the correct position, that is to say', if its upper side be directed upwards, the feeler head II can enter so far into the opening l2- that'it will be flush-with the upper surface of the-guide. plate 8 (position shown in Fig. 1). In this position the other end of the feeler lever It is opposite the opening l3 of the driver It. The driver I4 is fixed to the bar I! of a pusher member' I! which is moved by way ofa forked frame I! by a cam disc It, the roller 20 of the fork being pressed by a spring l9 against the cam disc It.

The movement towards the left of the pusher member I! can then take place without obstruction, since (as in the position shown in Fig. 1)

prongs 21 is moved in the direction of the arrow a by any arrangement of a kind known per se in connection with automatic devices and not shown in the drawing. l'ihe pins are arranged face of the button, until the pin points penetrate into two oppositely disposed holes 25. During the continuedrotatiori'of the pin carrier 28 the button I is carried round, until, after completing the half revolution, it is taken into the desired position, in which the holes in the button have the correct position with respect to the needles of the sewing machine of a kind known per 'se, which is not shown in the drawing. The tongs arrangement with the button is only then brought under the button sewing machine and the button is automatically sewn on by it.

If, on the other hand, a button should have entered the guiding cylinder 3 in the wrong position and consequently have also reached the guide plate 6 in the wrong position (the position shown in Fig. 2), the'head II of the feeler lever II! can enter the depression Iaof the button, causing the feeler lever I to rock about the pivot 9, so thaw the outer lever end is swung out of alignment with the opening I3 in the driver member. Whemduring the rotation of the cam disc I8, the places of smaller radial distance become operative on the roller 20, the bar I6 of the pusher member can under the action of the spring I9 move to-the left, but only by a quite small amount, until the feeler lever I0 strikes againstthe' driver member I4 and is at the same time secured against slip ping by the catch gl. In this way the pusher member I5 is prevented from moving, so that the button will not be pushed into the tongs arrangement.

This incorrectly placed button is then pushed by another pusher member I5a, which is arranged at about 90 to the sliding member I5 (Fig. 3), oil the guide plate 6 into a receptacle (not shown in the drawing and is transferred as required back to the funnel 2. The motion of this pusher member I5a. is released by a feeler lever IIia which beers with its feeler end Ila against the endxof the first-named feeler lever Id. In the position resulting from a button I failing incorrectly the supporting end IIa of the feeler lever Illa lies opposite the opening I3a of the driver member Me, so that, when released by the cam disc 68a, the pusher member Ida will be moved by the spring Idaand will push away the incorrectly lying button (Fig. 4).

In order that this motion shall not be hindered by the feeler head I I in the depression of the button, the head part Iiib of the feeler lever 'IQ is drawn by a cam drive 29, a two-armed lever 29a and a link member 30 out ofthe depression. In order that during this movement the other lever arm of the feeler lever Iii may be enabled to remain behind the catch 2i of the driver member M, the feeler lever I0 is made in two parts (see Fig. 5). The striking part of the feeler lever is provided at its pivot eye M with a finger 32, against which bears under the action of a spring 33 the feeler arm IOb of the feeler lever I0, which is capable of rocking about the same pivot pin 9. The spring is made of such strength that with normal feeling motions the entire feeler lever will act in the manner of a rigid lever. only when the cam drive 29 acts on the feeler lever arm 33 will the head part lib be rocked with respect to the striking part of the feeler lever, the spring I! being tensioned.

The lever Ilia is made in two parts in a similar manner. It is normally held in the extended position exactly like the lever III by a spring "a. The cam drive 29 (Fig. 2) moves with respect to the cam disc Ila in such a manner that the drawing downwards oi the head part IOb of the lever ilionly commences, when the pusher member Ida has already moved a certain distance towards the button 1, without however having come in contact with the button. The result of this is, thatthe feeler end of the lever Illa will already have entered the opening Ila. 0n the head part III?) being drawn downwards by the cam disc I! and the head part Ila of the lever being thereby rocked downwards, the movement of the pusher member Ilia cannot be obstructed thereby, as the lever la is already in the opening Ida and is pressed by the spring 33a only against the upper edge of the opening Ila.

The result of this arrangement is, that only one of the pusher members alternately can each time be put in operation, whether the correctly placed button is pushed into the tongs arrangement or the incorrectly placed button is thrown oh by the other pusher member.

What we claim is:

1. A device for ieeding buttons having a depression on one side to a sewing machine or the like, comprising a hopper having a cylindrical part with an internal diameter corresponding to the diameter of the buttons, 9. guide plate disposed below the outlet at the bottom of said cylindrical part and having an opening therein, two pusher members disposed in the plane of said outlet and capable of moving in said plane in diflerent radial directions for pushing the buttons deposited on the guide plate, a tongs arrangement for receiving the buttons from the guide plate and for holding said buttons in sewing position, and cam operated means for controlling the motion of said pusher members, the cam operated means of one pusher member including a two-armed feeler lever, a feeler head at the end of one arm of the lever, capable of contacting with the button through the opening in the guide plate, a spring attached to the pusher member, a stop member fixed to the pusher member and having a hole for the passage of the other arm of the two-armed feeler lever, whereby, when the button is in the correct position and the feeler head contacts with the flat side of the button, the lever arm can pass through the hole in the stop member and the pusher member can push the button into the tongs arrangement and, when the button is in the incorrect position and the feeler head enters the depression in the button, the lever arm will strike against the stop member and the pusher member will remain stationary.

2. A device as claimed in claim 1 in which the second pusher member is disposed substantially at right angles to the first-named pusher member and its cam-operated means inelhdes a feeler lever adaptedto be controlled by the-feeler lever of the first-named pusher member? or the purpose of pushing incorrectly positioned buttons away from the tongs arrangement.

3. A device for feeding buttons having a depression on one side too. sewing machine or the like, comprising a hopper having a cylindrical part with an internal diameter corresponding to the guide plate, a tongs arrangement for receiv- I ing the buttons from the guide plate and for holding said buttons in sewing position, andcam operated means for controlling the motion of said pusher members, the cam operated means of one pusher member including a feeler device comprising two one-armed levers capable of swinging about a common pivot, a stop member on one of the one-armed levers and a spring capable of drawing the other one-armed lever against the said stop for holding the two levers in the extended position, a feeler head at the end of one of the levers, capable of contacting with the button through the opening in the guide plate, a spring attached to the pusher member, a stop member fixed to the pusher member and having a hole for the passage of the other lever of the feeler device, whereby, when the button is in the correct position and the feeler head contacts with the flat side of the button, the said other lever can pass through the hole in the stop member and the pushermember can push the button into the tongs arrangement and, when the button is in the incorrect position and the feeler head enters thedepression in the button, the said other lever will strike against the stop member and the pusher member will remain stationary.

ERNST MELZER. HERBERT SIEGMUND.

GEORG KALEP. 

